During a sabbatical in 2004, Dan Cristol
found himself “trapped in his car” at a stoplight when he inexplicably
became fascinated with Herbert Hoover’s wife. Cristol, associate
professor of biology at the College, was, in fact, listening to a
National Public Radio broadcast of “A Moment in Time,” a two-minute
radio show about history produced by Dan Roberts at the University of
Richmond. As he waited for the signal to change, it occured to him: Why
not do for ornithology what Roberts had done for history? In the
process, he reasoned, he potentially could save millions of birds while
making lives happier for hundreds of thousands of people.

It
almost happened. Cristol produced a series of fully developed radio
demos that he titled “For the Birds.” In each episode, he engaged with
a fresh wit and an obvious passion bird-related topics of general
interest. Topics included why people resent non-migrating geese—“goose
poop,” what people should do with their cats—“keep the killers
indoors,” and what types of fowl he personally eats—“ugly birds taste
better than pretty ones.”

Success
for the project seemed guaranteed. Judging from the enthusiasm
generated by the bird-related column he had been producing for the
Virginia Gazette, Cristol was convinced a much broader audience existed
for similar discussion. “People stop me in the street and call me and
e-mail me all the time with questions about birds,” he said. “They want
to know what makes that little ‘dinky-dinky-dee’ sound outside their
window or why woodpeckers tear up insulation.” Those interested in such
discussion, he also noticed, seemed to be more in touch with
themselves. “People who are connected to nature, even if just through
seeing a bird at a feeder and knowing what it’s doing, are better off
and, I bet, happier,” he said. “These are the kind of people I want to
be around.”

Certainly an additional benefit—perhaps the major
benefit—would accrue if a program such as “For the Birds” could help
protect some of the world’s feathered species. As human beings
continually expand their developmental footprint, numerous bird
populations become endangered. Despite productive interventions on
behalf of some, such as ospreys and eagles, Cristol maintained that
“for every high-profile success there are 50 species that are on a fast
track to extinction.”

“And no-one cares,” he said. “If I told the stories of these creatures, people might do something.”

At
present, Cristol does not have the resources necessary to pursue the
series. After talking with Dan Roberts, he realized that the time
commitment involved in producing a daily radio show that could be
marketed to the national media would be overwhelming. That not only is
sad, in a sense, for Cristol, it is sad, too, for the College. “There
are 65 million bird enthusiasts in this country, and if William and
Mary could be firmly implanted in the minds of all of them for two
minutes every day after they had learned something interesting about
birds, there would be 65 million more William and Mary enthusiasts,” he
speculated.